Protective helmet

ABSTRACT

Protective helmet (10), in particular for motorcyclists or the like, with an outer casing formed in particular as an outer shell (11) and a lining (12) which is accommodated in the outer casing and lines the latter at least in areas. At least in partial regions, the lining (12) comprises a cushion which can be evacuated of air, is divided into individual segments (13, 14, 15, 16) and is filled with resilient packing (38).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention at hand concerns a protective helmet, in particular formotorcyclists or the like, with an outer casing formed in particular asan outer shell and a lining which is accommodated in the outer casingand lines the latter at least in areas.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Protective helmets of the aforementioned type are used in many, to someextent very diverse, areas and are used in both the area of workprotection as well as in the leisure and sports area as a protectivehead covering. In this, the essential components of a protective helmet,namely the outer casing that is formed as an outer shell as a rule andthe lining, are attributed particular functions that supplement oneanother regardless of the field of application. The outer shell is as arule designed to be relatively resistant to bending and serves as anouter protective sheathing of the lining as well as for introducing theimpact shocks to the lining as uniformly and planarly as possible. Thelining itself essentially serves to absorb and reduce the impact energybefore this reaches the head of the helmet wearer. In comparison toouter shells that are relatively resistant to bending, the shell lining,as a rule, is therefore designed to be relatively unresistant to bendingand relatively elastic as well as cushioning.

Apart from the special material properties that the outer shell and theshell lining of a protective helmet have, the fit of the helmet on thehead of the helmet wearer is decisive for the protective effect that canbe achieved with a protective helmet. The best protective effect isachieved with a fit of the protective helmet or the lining that is asclose as possible. The fit of a protective helmet that is as close aspossible stands in direct contrast in known protective helmets tocomfort of wear. Due to the varying skull geometries of helmet wearers,a close fit is frequently possible in the case of a helmet that ismanufactured in a standard size only by corresponding tight stretchingof the helmet's chin strap. It's true that in many areas close fittingcontact is achieved between the shell lining and the head of the helmetwearer this way. This is achieved, however, at the price that,particularly in the case of longer wear of the protective helmet,uncomfortable pressure points become noticeable, or that the helmetwearer gets a headache as a result of the increased pressure. Inaddition to impairing the comfort of wear, in the case of motorcyclists,this has a negative effect on driving safety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As a result, the invention at hand is based upon the object of creatinga protective helmet with a lining that has the properties that so farhave appeared to be incompatible as well as upon the object of makingpossible a close fit as well as high wear comfort.

The protective helmet in accordance with the invention is equipped witha lining that, at least in partial regions, has a cushion which can beevacuated of air, divided into individual cushion segments and is filledwith resilient packing.

With the cushion in an aerated condition, the resilient packing bodiescan easily be shifted against one another and, thus, permit theformation of a very soft cushion that can easily be altered in terms ofits shape. With a cushion in this condition it is, therefore,particularly easy to stick a protective helmet that has been equippedwith this kind of cushion lining over the head or to remove it. In doingso, the cushion or the cushion filling adapts particularly well to theindividual skull geometry of the helmet wearer and, as a result,essentially fits uniformly with the cushion surface on the entiresurface of the skull covered by the cushion. As a result of thesubsequent evacuation of the cushion, the adapted cushion fit is quasifrozen, whereby, for one, a close fitting and indeed comfortable fitremains for the helmet wearer and, secondly, the deformability of thecushion is reduced to the resilient pliability of the packing because ofthe arrangement of the packing that is now close-fitting as a result ofthe evacuation. Therefore, in an evacuated condition the cushion showsevidence of good cushioning properties that are desired for absorbingimpacts.

Since the soft and particularly easy to deform design of the cushion canbe restored at any time by aerating the cushion, something which makesit possible to easily and almost weakly remove the protective helmetfrom the head of the helmet wearer, the protective helmet in accordancewith the invention also fulfills to a special degree the requirementthat exists in particular in the case of motorcyclists that it must bepossible to easily remove the protective helmet after an accident, i.e.,for instance in the case of unconsciousness.

Beyond this, however, the protective helmet in accordance with theinvention offers a completely new possibility in manufacturingready-to-wear protective helmets, since several ready-to-wear sizes canbe covered with one and the same lining as a result of the easyadaptability of the helmet lining.

In a preferred embodiment the cushion segments individually or in avacuum-tight combination form cushion units that each have an evacuationdevice. This advantageous embodiment makes possible an almostarbitrarily fine distribution of the lining in individual evacuationzones, which can then prove to be advantageous if a helmet shell beingused as an outer casing is made of several parts. In this case, theindividual evacuation zones can then be allocated to the individualshell components.

With a particularly preferred embodiment, the evacuation device isequipped with a valve attached to the outer casing and a vacuum pumpthat is allocated to this and attached outside on the outer casing andformed approximately as a suction bellows. This arrangement makes itpossible for the helmet wearer to execute the evacuation or aeration ofthe cushion himself at any time in an especially advantageous mannerwithout having to separately carry the devices required for this.

A further advantageous possibility of forming the evacuation deviceconsists of equipping a reflux valve in a cushion wall and of equippingthe cushion unit, which as designed above can be formed by an individualcushion segment or a combination of cushion segments, with a surfacepressure device to deaerate the cushion unit via the reflux valve.

This formation of the evacuation device makes it possible, for example,to evacuate the cushion via a chin strap that is connected with apressure support that is attached to the external cushion wall, so thatevacuation and the associated dimensional stability of the cushion takesplace when putting on and tightening the chin strap. Consequently incomparison to conventional protective helmets, no additional measureshave to be carried out by the helmet wearer in order to evacuate thecushion.

The evacuation device can also be made of an at least partiallyair-porous cushion wall, which makes deaeration possible via the cushionwall with pressure from the outside, for example when the helmet is puton. As long as the pressure remains in existence, the deaeratedcondition of the cushion continues. After removal of the helmet, thecushion is then gradually aerated again.

Also proven to be advantageous are when the cushion has island areas orfree spaces, preferably in the areas of the outer shell that cover theexternal ears of the helmet wearer. For one thing, particularlypressure-sensitive areas on the head of the helmet wearer are avoided byvirtue of this arrangement. For another thing, the sound absorbingeffect of the cushion from the free spaces or island areas remainswithout an effect on the ability of the helmet wearer to hear, so thatthis also makes a contribution to traffic safety.

It is particularly advantageous if the segments are divided off from oneanother via bridges that at least to some extent are formed byvacuum-tight adjacent areas of the cushion walls. In the case of cushionwalls that are formed from thermoplastic material, these types ofbridges can be made from torch cuts, for example. The bridges that areformed in this manner make separate devices to form the separationssuperfluous.

Connecting the cushion segments to one another can also take place viaair-permeable intermediate areas in the bridges or also via air channelsor air piping connections or via central air piping.

The cushion walls can be equipped with an external liner facing thehelmet's outer shell and/or an inner liner facing the head of the helmetwearer, which can have different materials and/or material surfaces.This makes it possible to form the liners as functional layers that eachhave special properties corresponding to their arrangement.

Thus, the external liner can for instance be equipped with an adhesivecoating that prevents undesired slipping of the outer shell of thehelmet against the external liner. Depending upon the type of formationof the adhesive coating, this can even make separate connecting devicesbetween the liner and the outer shell of the helmet superfluous.

It has also proved to be advantageous if the inner liner is formed as aclimate system with at least two layers made of different materials. Anouter layer that faces the head of the helmet wearer can be made of asynthetic material with air permeability and moisture permeability andan intermediate layer arranged between the outer layer and the liningcan be made of an absorbent material such as fleece or a cotton layer.

It is especially advantageous, particularly with a formation as aclimate system, if the inner liner is attached to the lining so that itcan be replaced.

With respect to the protective helmet's comfort of wear, it has alsoproven to be especially agreeable if the bridges or the island areas ofthe cushion are equipped with ventilation openings that for one preventan accumulation of heat in the head area and for another provide for asufficient carrying-off of moisture.

Besides being equipped with cushion segments, the lining can be providedwith elastic areas of padding, for instance in the area of the rearlower edge of the helmet, that can be made of air padding or even ofpadding inserts such as cellular inserts and are responsible for afurther increase in the comfort of wear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, a preferred embodiment of a protective helmet inaccordance with the invention will be explained in more detail on thebasis of the drawings. They show the following:

FIG. 1 A protective helmet shown with a sectional helmet shell and thelining that is accommodated in it.

FIG. 2 A broken-out representation of the lining that is formed as avacuum cushion.

FIG. 3 Another illustration of the protective helmet of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIGS. 1 and 3 show a protective helmet 10 (having a chin strap 45) thatis represented with a sectional helmet outer shell 11 and is on the headof the helmet wearer for the purposes of better explanation. In theembodiment of the protective helmet that is shown here, one is dealingwith a jet helmet for motorcyclists. This helmet could just as well havebeen designed as semi-shell helmet or integral helmet. Lighterembodiments, like those that are used by bicyclists for instance, arealso conceivable particularly with respect to the formation of thehelmet outer shell.

Regardless of the development of the helmet outer shell 11, a lining 12is provided in any case, which in this embodiment is formed as a wholeas a coherent vacuum cushion with individual cushion segments, of whichonly cushion segments 13, 14, 15 and 16 are visible due to therepresentation of the protective helmet 10 in FIG. 1 in side view.Additional correspondingly arranged cushion segments are arranged on theopposite side of the head that is not shown here.

The individual cushion segments 13, 14, 15 and 16 are divided off fromone another via bridges 18, 19, 20, 21 in a vacuum-tight manner andtogether form a cushion unit with a common evacuation device that has areflux valve 31 and a suction bellows 32.

In the case of the embodiment that is described here, the bridges 18,19, 20, 21 are formed surrounding the cushion segments 13, 14, 15, 16.It is also just as well possible that the bridges only representseparations in certain areas between the individual cushion segments inareas and in remaining areas the segments are formed by merging into oneanother.

With the lining that is depicted here, the cushion segments are arrangedradiated on the head of the helmet wearer and run together in a skullarea 22. In the skull area 22 there is a tonsure-shaped free space 23 inthe lining 12 into which air pipings 24, 25, 26, 27 are attached thatoriginate from the skull-side end regions of the cushion segments 13,14, 15 and 16 and terminate in a common connection piece 28. Issuingfrom the connection piece 28, a collection line 29 runs between the twocushion segments that are arranged on the rear head of the helmetwearer, of which only the one cushion segment 16 is shown in the viewdepicted in FIG. 1, and terminates in the reflux valve 31 attached inthe area of a rear helmet lower edge 30 in the helmet outer shell 11.The suction bellows 32 is provided with a deaeration opening 33 outsideon the helmet outer shell 11 overlapping the reflux valve 31. The refluxvalve 31 that is not depicted here in detail is equipped with anaeration device, also not shown here, for aearating the cushion segments13, 14, 15 and 16.

For aeration purposes, the bridges 18, 19, 20 and 21 are provided withperforations 42, either in partial regions or completely, that permit aexchange of air between the outside environment and the head surface.The tonsure-shaped free space 23 in the skull area 22 also contributesto this.

In the case of the embodiment shown here, cushion segment 15 is providedwith an additional free space 34 that serves to accommodate an externalear 35. Instead of a free space, an island area of the cushion segment15 that is not shown here in detail can be provided in the area of theexternal ear that, similar to a bridge, is formed from adjacent areas ofcushion walls 36, 37 (FIG. 2) and can be provided with perforations,however, deviating from this, has a planar distension that covers thearea of the external ear.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional representation of the cushion segment 15in an area between the bridges 19 and 20. The structure of the lining 12as a whole becomes clears from this depiction. The lining 12 has twocushion walls, the outer cushion wall 36 and the inner cushion wall 37that are connected by bridges 19, 20 to form the cushion segments, ofwhich only cushion segment 15 is shown here as an example, which bridgesare formed here by bonding in areas or heat sealing in areas of thecushion walls 36 and 37 with one another. Cushion segment 15 as well asthe other cushion segments are filled with resilient packing 38 that canfreely move against one another in an aerated condition of the cushionsegment 15, thereby creating a soft and less elastic formation of thecushion segment.

Functional liners 39 and 40 are attached outside on the cushion walls 36and 37 that are formed here from a thermoplastic synthetic. The outerfunctional liner 39 consists of a wear-resistant material that has arubber adhesive coating 41 on the outside and consequently provides fora good hold of the lining 12 in the helmet outer shell 11. The innerfunctional liner 40 as a climate system is provided with an outersynthetic layer 43 and an absorbent intermediate layer 44 made of fleeceand is consequently responsible for the helmet wearer having anagreeable feel during wear.

As already mentioned above, the individual cushion segments of thelining 12 are in an aerated state in the initial condition, i.e., whenputting the protective helmet 10 on, so that the protective helmet 10can be placed simply on the head of the helmet wearer without greatresistance. If the protective helmet 10 is in a comfortable fit positionfor the helmet wearer, the cushion segments of the lining 12 aredeaerated by repeated pressing of the suction bellows 32, whereby theinner functional liner 40 adapts in a close fit in terms of its contourto the skull contour of the helmet wearer. Due to the resultinglarge-surface contact areas between the lining 12 and the head of thehelmet wearer, a relatively low pressure of the lining on the head ofthe helmet wearer is already sufficient into order to guarantee anexact, essentially immobile fit of the protective helmet 10 on the head.

Due to the deaearted state of the individual cushion segments, from nowon the packing bodies 38 fit close together and are no longer movablerelative to one another. By virtue of this, the previously soft,inelastic formation of the lining 12 is replaced by a relativelyinflexible, elastically cushioning formation, whereby the elasticallycushioning properties are essentially prescribed by the materialproperties of the packing 38. In the case of the embodiment describedhere, the packing 38 is made of Styrofoam balls; but can also be made ofother suitable, elastics synthetics.

In order to remove the protective helmet 10, the cushion segments of thelining 12 are aerated by actuating the aearation device, so that thesoft, pliable formation of the lining 12 is restored and the protectivehelmet can be removed more easily.

With the protective helmet illustrated in FIG. 1, the outer casing isformed by a relatively rigidly formed outer shell. It is conceivable,however, that this type of outer shell be dispensed with so that inparticularly light embodiments of the protective helmet, the outercasing can also be formed by the wear-resistant outer functional liner39.

We claim:
 1. A protective helmet with an outer casing formed as an outershell and a lining which is accommodated in the outer casing and linesthe latter at least in areas, said lining, in at least one region,comprises a cushion which is divided into individual cushion segments,said cushion segments being filled with resilient shiftable packingbodies, said cushion segments being evacuatable of air by evacuationmeans to transfer said cushion segments from an aerated state to adeaerated state;and wherein in said deaerated state, said resilientpacking bodies being in close-fit connection to one another, theclose-fit connection being maintained by said evacuation meansmaintaining a deaerated state.
 2. The protective helmet in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the evacuation means is formed of an leastpartially air-porous cushion wall, which when there is pressurizationfrom the outside any air present in the cushion is pressed to theoutside.
 3. The protective helmet in accordance with claim 1, whereinthe evacuation means has a reflux valve provided in a cushion wall andthe cushion is equipped with a surface pressure device to deaerate thecushion via the reflux valve.
 4. The protective helmet in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the lining has island areas that cover theexternal ears of the helmet wearer.
 5. The protective helmet inaccordance with claim 4, wherein the cushion segments are divided offfrom one another via bridges that at least to some extent are formed byvacuum-tight adjacent areas of the cushion walls.
 6. The protectivehelmet in accordance with claim 5, wherein at least one of the bridgesand the island areas of the lining are equipped with ventilationopenings.
 7. The protective helmet in accordance with claim 1, furthercomprising an outer functional liner facing the helmet's outer shell andan inner functional liner of the lining facing the head of the helmetwearer.
 8. The protective helmet in accordance with claim 7, wherein theouter functional liner has an adhesive coating.
 9. The protective helmetin accordance with claim 7, wherein the inner functional liner comprisesat least two layers of different materials to form a climate system. 10.The protective helmet in accordance with claim 1, wherein the lining haselastic areas of padding.
 11. The protective helmet in accordance withclaim 4, wherein the island areas are disposed in the area of said outershell.
 12. The protective helmet in accordance with claim 7, whereinsaid outer shell and said inner functional liner are formed frommaterials having different characteristics.
 13. The protective helmet inaccordance with claim 9, wherein said inner functional liner includes anouter layer of synthetic material facing the head of the helmet wearer,said outer layer being air permeable and moister permeable and anintermediate layer provided between the outer layer and the lining, saidintermediate layer being made of an absorbent material.
 14. Theprotective helmet in accordance with claim 13, wherein said intermediatelayer is made of fleece.
 15. The protective helmet in accordance withclaim 10, wherein said padding is air padding.
 16. The protective helmetin accordance with claim 10, wherein said padding is cellular padding.17. A protective helmet with an outer casing formed as an outer shelland a lining which is accommodated in the outer casing and lines thelatter at least in areas, said lining, in at least one region, comprisesa cushion which is divided into individual cushion segments, saidcushion segments being filled with shiftable resilient packing bodies,said cushion segments being evacuatable of air by an evacuation deviceto transfer said cushion segments from an aerated state to a deaeratedstate;wherein in said deaerated state, said resilient packing bodiesbeing in close-fit connection to one another; and wherein the evacuationdevice has a reflux valve that is connectable to a vacuum pump that isattached externally to the outer shell.
 18. The protective helmet inaccordance with claim 17, wherein said reflux valve is attached to saidouter shell.